I’ve been getting quite a few requests for natural wine the last few weeks, so this week we’re focusing on some of the best natural wine producers in the Lifford portfolio. These five wineries are all flag-bearers in the natural wine world. They all farm organically or biodynamically, ferment with wild yeast, have little to no fining, filtration, sulphites, or new oak on the wines. While their specific production methods may vary, they are all regarded as some of the best in the natural wine world and beyond.

Natural wine is a contentious, very complicated topic. Instead of explaining the ins-and-outs of organic, biodynamic, and natural wine here, I’ve written a blog post on Capital Wine that gives you an entry into this whole world. If you’re unfamiliar, click here to check that out first, then come back to this.

GUT OGGAU

Gut Oggau makes some of the most sought after (and instagram-able) bottles in the wine world. Stephanie and Edouard are the impossilby adorable husband and wife team Stephanie and Eduoard behind the brand. Before starting Gut Oggau, Edouard made conventional wine with his father and Stephanie worked in her family’s Michelin starred restaurant, Taubenkobel. They first started making wine together in 2007 after painstakingly restoring a 17th century winery that had been abandoned for 20 years. The upside was that they were able to begin farming biodynamically and get certification easily because there had not been any activity in the vineyard for 20 years, any chemicals that might have been used in the past had long since washed away. They began noticing that all their wines took distinct characteristics, almost like people and personalities. So they developed an idea where each wine was a member of a fictitious family with its own personality. They gave these names and profiles to an artist friend who drew all the family portraits. These would become the wine labels. No grape varieties, no blend information, just the family member’s face and their personality. Here is the family tree and various personalities. Even though you won’t find it on the label, the varieties they work with are the traditional suspects from the region: Blaufrankish, Zweigelt Grüner Veltliner, Welchriesling, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), and Gewurtzraminer. If you think this is a joke or any less serious of a winery, you should know some of the world’s top restaurants like Noma have been major clients of Gut Oggau for years. Really exemplary stuff, not only in the natural category, but for Austrian wine overall.

I first met Edouard and Stephanie at RAW Wine Fair in Brooklyn in 2017. Their wines were one of the the stars of the show for us. After some conversation and a few glasses of wine we had signed up to represent them in Ontario and they’ve been selling out like crazy ever since. In fact, these wines are usually allocated and sold out immediately upon arrival to Ontario. And they are just a few weeks away from landing so now is the time to get your orders in. There’s just a few cases of each available, so we may not be able to fill everyone’s orders, but we can try. First come, first served!

VINCENT CAILLE

Vincent took over his family's 5th generation Muscadet estate in 1986. The vineyard had been farmed conventionally over the previous decades because the Muscadet area of the coastal Loire Valley in France is extremely humid and it’s main grape variety, Melon de Bourgogne, is very susceptible to mildew. After 10 years of continuing to spray fungicides with conventional farming practices, he was the first in the area to switch back to organic viticulture and is still one of the only ones today. He then went further and began biodynamic farming and became certified by Demeter in 2016. While his main focus is the Melon de Bourgogne variety, Vincent also works with other grapes like Gros Plant and Côt. If you’ve never heard of either of those local grape names, Gros Plant is the same as Folle Blanche in Cognac or Picpoul in Southern France, and Côt is another name for Malbec. But don’t be fooled, Côt drinks nothing like Cahors or Argentine Malbec. When grown in the Loire it drinks more like a balance between Gamay and Cabernet Franc. Lighter, earthier, acidic, fresh and fruity. Here’s a few favourites that we currently have in stock. Check out his website for more details and click the link on the title of each wine for more information.

Muscadet ‘Clos de la Févrie’, 2018 | $31.99 x12
Vincent’s top Muscadet. Melon de Bourgogne from several old vineyards, with all the minerality, rich texture and fresh acidity you would expect from a classic high-end Muscadet. A winner for seafood and oysters as well as a couple years in the cellar.
Muton Noir, 2018 | $22.99 x12
For those that love great Muscadet but want an outstanding value that’s easier on the pocket book and you can drink every day with dinner…or lunch? Now that we’re in a pandemic, anything goes! Named for Vincent’s long reputation as the lone black sheep farming organically in Muscadet.
Je T’aime Mais J’ai Soif, NV | $24.99 x12
A non-vintage blend that 66% Melon de Bourgogne, 34% Marsanne. Certified organic and declassified to Vin de France to include the Marsanne grape from outside the Loire Valley. This wine is really easy-drinking, fresh wine with notes of citrus and apricots.
‘Part du Colibri’ Côt, 2018 | $24.99 x12
Don’t expect a big Argentine Malbec, but do expect a really interesting and fresh lighter medium bodied red. I think of Côt as if Gamay and Malbec or Cab Franc had a baby. Click here for the cute story behind the name and some more tasting notes.
X-Bulles, NV | $27.99 x12
A sparkling rose done in the original, all-natural Ancestral Method, also known as Pet-Nat. It is comprised of 90% Melon de Bourgogne and 10% Grolleau (another local Loire red varietal). A really pretty dry rose with nice mouse and firm bubbles. More tastings notes here.

IDLEWILD WINES

This story starts at Marietta Cellars, one of my favourite California wineries founded by Chris Bilbro in the late 1970’s when he converted and old Sonoma cattle ranch into a winery. They continue produce amazing wines at Marietta, but Chris passed away last year and all his sons have went on to their own individual wine pursuits. Chris’ son Scott Bilbro took over Marietta Cellars, his son Jake went on to start Limerick Lane winery, and the youngest son Sam veered off even further and dove head first into the natural wine world and started Idlewild Wines with vineyards in Mendocino County. There he focuses on Northern Italian Piedmontese grapes and shares and vineyard and winery with another famous California natural winery called Ruth Lewindowski. As much as the Idlewild wines are natural raw, these are also refined, pretty and precise. Some have a more savoury/funky/earthy component but this Fauna & Flora White is clean clean clean with lots of texture and lifted floral and fruit components with crisp balanced acidity. Great on it’s own while sipping on the patio, or paired with slightly spicier dishes that need a little bit of body to balance. Think grilled fish on the BBQ or your next pandemic take-out order of Indian or Chinese food.

Flora & Fauna White, 2018 | $42.99 x12
The notes on the linked Idlewild website are for the 2019 vintage. This 2018 is very similar but slightly different assemblage of 50% Muscat Canelli, 48% Arneis, and 2% Cortese. The grapes were whole cluster pressed and co-fermented together with wild yeast and left to age on its lees in neutral oak. “The wine is highlighted by honey, wildflowers, wet stones, salty air, jasmine, and orange blossoms. The mouth feel is shaped like a diamond: lean on the front, a touch of oiliness and richness through the mid, and then racy and driving through the finish.” -Sam Bilbro

BLANKBOTTLE WINERY

Pieter Walser and his many crazy delicious creations.

Pieter Walser is one of the most inspired and avant-garde winemakers I know of. He began years ago by making small lots of wine that he was selling under the table, out of the truck of his car with no labels, and not paying tax on them…an illegal black-market operation he called BLANKbottle. These blank bottles built quite a following with South African sommeliers and eventually critics before he was caught and had to go legit. Luckily, Pieter is also an incredible artist, and was able to design some of the best labels in the wine business. Most importantly, each one of his wines is a unique creation, some are only ever made from a single idea about a single vintage. One of the most famous stories is when he met a neuroscientist on a flight and they decided to do a project together where Pieter was hooked up to censors that measured his brain activity and pleasure receptors. He then tasted barrel samples of his white wines blind and created a blend based entirely off of his subconscious neutro-activity. Then, for comparison, he created another blend using the same grapes consciously knowing what he was tasting and blending. This resulted in two very different wines and both were extremely delicious. Sorry, we don’t have either of those wines in stock at the moment, but that’s to explain the kind of thing that happens at BLANKbottle. However, earlier this year Pieter shipped us some mixed six-packs of his wines, which is uncommon in consignment wine by the case (but it arrived mixed so we can sell it that way!). This is a great way to try a sampling of his creative, delicious, unique wines. His website also has the spec sheets for each wine, along with the interesting backstory of how each wine was created linked in the wines below. There’s even an audio player where Pieter narrates each story! The Sixpack sells for $44.99 a bottle or $269.94 per case. Here’s the 6 wines that are included in this case:

FRANK CORNELISSEN

Frank Cornelissen is potentially the most famous natural winemaker in the world. He’s been the poster boy for the zero intervention, no-sulphites style since the early 2000’s and his wines have skyrocketed in fame from the culty underground hipster wine bars, to the favourite of hip-hop stars, to becoming regarded as one of the great wines of the world, not just a top “natural wine”. Frank was a Danish son of a wine broker who grew up drinking all the best First Growth Bordeaux and Burgundies that aren’t possible to find anymore for less than $1000 a bottle today. Frank went on to work as a broker himself, but he became inspired by a burgeoning movement in natural wine back in the late 1990’s and moved to Sicily to start making wines on the volcanic terroirs of Mount Etna. His wines have been regarded as examples some of the most extreme viticulture and benchmarks of the natural wine movement. Frank has referred to his style of wine as lava wine, and other clients have referred to it lovingly as dragon’s blood. Suffice it to say they are unique and widely loved. His is always the first table surrounded by fans and drank entirely out of wine at any RAW Wine Fairs. Usually Franks wine’s are entirely pre-sold upon arrival to Ontario with only a few lucky restaurants getting allocations, but we just got an extra shipment of his Munjabel Rosso just before the pandemic hit, so lucky for you, we just happen to have some extra stock. Also, check out this article in Ottawa Magazine from 2017 featuring a dinner party I hosted at my home with Frank and a number of Ottawa’s top natural wine sommeliers. Good times when Frank comes to Ottawa.

Munjabel Rosso, 2017 | $67.99 x 12
100% Nerello Mascalese from Mount Etna in Italy. Earthy and funky raw wines notes with dark fruit and with refined tannins and outstanding balance. A very complex wine with pretty floral components mixed in with minerally earthiness, fresh acidity and nice fruit.

If you’re interested in any of these wines, please send me an email right away. Some of them are one-off shipments that are quite low on stock and won’t be returning. As this email is coming a bit late, the order deadline for Friday delivery will be extended this week until Wednesday at noon.

Cheers and stay safe,
Andrew Rastapkevicius